Posted on 12/17/2004 2:25:19 PM PST by Rodney King
Chocolate, wine can aid heart By Sharon Labi December 17, 2004
A DAILY meal of seven ingredients including wine and chocolate could cut heart disease by 76 per cent, Australian researchers have found.
The diet comprising wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruit, vegetables, almonds and garlic, would also increase life expectancy by more than six years in men and five years in women.
Researchers at Monash University, in Victoria, and the Erasmus University Medical Centre, in The Netherlands, studied the effects of the "polymeal" to see if its benefits could match those of a polypill.
Research last year into a polypill found the combination of drugs in one dose could reduce heart disease by more than 80 per cent.
Dr Anna Peeters of Monash University said the meal was almost as effective as the pill.
"We found that if you took this kind of meal and this combination of ingredients, that you'd have an increase in total life expectancy, and for men it was about six and a half years and for women it was about five years," she told AAP.
"If you take this polymeal idea, then you get more years free of cardiovascular disease and less years with cardiovascular disease and that was quite a significant finding."
The seven foods were picked for their benefits on cardiovascular disease, and although olive oil was known to be good for the heart, not enough solid data was available to include it, Dr Peeters said.
But the inclusion of wine and chocolate was good news, especially in the lead-up to Christmas.
"It's been known for a long time that they are both beneficial for cardiovascular disease, they have antioxidant properties," Dr Peeters said.
"On their own, the level of effect is only 14-20 per cent but it's in combination with all these others that you get such a big reduction (in cardiovascular disease) of 76 per cent."
However, it was not open slather on the ingredients: the recommended daily intake was 150ml for wine and 100g for dark chocolate.
Apart from running the risk of boring the palate, eating a diet of only seven ingredients required further study.
"We're not advocating that people should take this particular set of ingredients for the rest of their lives. It was more a paper to illustrate that using a dietary combination, you could get effects similar to pharmaceutical combinations," Dr Peeters said.
"It's really just to show that a healthy diet potentially can have the same effects as a polypill."
Dr Peeters said the polymeal was an effective, non-pharmacological, safe, cheap and tasty alternative to the polypill.
The research was published in this week's British Medical Journal.
You know you ain't wearing it for long! ;) R will warm you up!
Beer is pretty much the extent of alcohol that I drink, and other than wine of occassion, the only thing stronger would be Kahlua or Bailey's in coffee or on icecream.
With ONE major exception - rum in Eggnog. And the bottle of rum under the bar is more than 3 years old!!!
Because I can now buy beer and wine in the supermarket - I haven't set foot in a liquor store since we left Delaware.
LOL!!! You're so good to me, my FRiend.
Beer flavored ice cream? - thanks but no thanks.
Neither am I, but they're tasty when you Cuisinart them with some sugar and other stuff to make marzipan (has the consistency of cookie dough), then you coat pieces of the marzipan in melted dark chocolate. So you've got 2 health foods in one bite!
You can find plain uncoated marzipan sold in some supermarkets, especially this time of year. Sold in little rolls like Pillsbury cookie dough. Also check local candy shops. There's a brand of German chocolate bar called "Mozart", which I think has a marzipan variety.
;-)
My 22 year old Angora cat sleeps on the stove. I'm always afraid he's going to burn the house down some day before he dies.
I thought it was gross, too. I had to laugh when a FReeper said, TG! Now i can save time making those beer floats!
I'm a whiskey in my water, sugar in my tea gal. I used to be a wino, but bourbon works out cheaper.
Just the idea of a "beer float" makes me think I'm not going to have another beer and just switch to water.
I love sweet tea.........but many, many years ago I had a close personal relationship with Jack Daniels........I avoid whiskey like the plague.
Whoo hoo! More for me! I have to go cook, baby. BBL. {{{{{{G}}}}}}}
And without the wine and chocolate, it might increase it by ten years IMO. You can get antioxidants many other ways. They're found in veggies. Berries. And green tea. And peanuts. If you must have the antioxidants in red wine, you can eat grapes or take resveratrol tablets.
More on resveratrol including some cautions:
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/resveratrol.html
"While present in other plants, such as eucalyptus, spruce, and lily, and in other foods such as mulberries and peanuts, resveratrol's most abundant natural sources are Vitis vinifera, labrusca, and muscadine grapes, which are used to make wines. It occurs in the vines, roots, seeds, and stalks, but its highest concentration is in the skin ..."
Good heavens! Never, ever peel me a grape.
I'm fond of rum, but we haven't had any lately ... probably for the same reason you mention - since we can buy wine in the grocery store, we never go into a liquor store!
That's scary! Our cat makes her own decisions. One very cold winter, she sat so close to the fire that she put her whiskers through the screen and scorched them right off!
You sound like you're No Fun!
Knock the top off a Bud, pour in a little JD. It's smoooth.
Just take fish oil gelatin caps.
Enjoy - cookie tonight is reheating leftovers!!! Woo Hoo!!!!
{{{{{A}}}}}}
Talk later.
I understand they harm you in some way. I saw an article on it somewhere.
Hubby went into a liquor store one time, the night before Thanksgiving last year. We were going to Delaware to his sister's for Thanksgiving, and since it was also her birthday we decided to bring some Virginia wine........none of the supermarkets carry it!!!
I'm particularly no fun today as I spent the morning at the dentist's for root canal and a bridge. Chocolate and the sugar it contains damage tooth enamel. Wine is too acidic and can damage tooth enamel. I do occasionally indulge in powdered organic cocoa sprinkled into coffee or over oatmeal--no sugar added. Big fat yum, huh?
But yes indeed, I load up on antioxidants bigtime and am, aside from teeth, in spectacular good health. That in itself is fun enough
Eat organic: Die anyway. Truffles, TC?
Oh, Dentistry. Bad scene. I'll have some wine and chocolate for you!
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